Pakistan Day 4: Kate in turquoise for mosque and cancer hospital visit

After a quick change of clothing, William and Kate undertook further engagements in Lahore, Pakistan during the fourth day of their tour (17th October 2019).  

The Duke and Duchess spent the morning meeting officials, visiting orphaned children and playing cricket.  You can read my previous post covering those engagements (and Kate’s first outfit) by clicking here.

First, the couple toured the historic Badshahi Mosque, an iconic Islamic site set in the heart of the Walled City of Lahore. 

It was the largest mosque in the world for over 300 years and can hold up to 100,000 worshippers on its grounds.  About the visit:

[The] couple learned about the site’s history and sat down for a discussion with religious leaders. During the meeting, they listened to a prayer read from the Holy Quran in Arabic.

“We talked about things that you can do to bring people together,” said Iona Thomas, political councillor at the British High Commission who moderated the discussion. He noted that William “asked quite a lot of questions about what more can be done about religious tolerance.”

Harpers Bazaar

After, William and Kate travelled to the Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital.  The hospital accepts 10,000 new cancer patients each year and largely relies on donations as it treats between 75-80% of patients for free.

Imran Khan, the ex-cricketer and now Prime Minister of Pakistan, founded the state-of-the-art hospital in memory of his late mother. She sadly died from cancer in 1985.

William’s own mother, Princess Diana, visited the hospital twice in the last years of her life. She was close friends with Jemima Khan, Imran’s wife at the time.

William and Kate toured the hospital with Dr Aasim Yusif.  He’d shown Princess Diana around the unit during one of her visits in the 1990s.  The doctor told William how friendly she was, how she was able to put everybody at ease.  From People magazine: 

We were all very nervous about what we should say and what she would ask and how we should address her. The minute she came into the room, she lit up the room obviously and also she was just so friendly and down to earth. You could tell that she was genuinely interested in the people she was meeting.

William and Kate also spent time on the children’s ward where they met and played with youngsters undergoing treatment, including chemotherapy.  

This included seven-year-old Wafia, an Afghan girl being treated for cancer of the kidney. The royals took part in an imaginary tea party with the girl on her hospital bed. 

Wafia’s brother informed the press pack that her father calls her princess and she likes to wear a tiara. 

Apparently, the young girl was looking forward to meeting a real prince and princess.   Wafia offered Kate a tiara and Kate put it on.

Watch William and Kate visit the children below:

Of course, the Duke and Duchess visited Pakistan at the request of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.  Find all of my tour coverage so far on this page.

Kate’s outfit in Lahore:  

Kate changed into her second traditional outfit of the day, a vibrant turquoise shalwar kameez and dupatta shawl by Pakistani designer Maheen Khan.  

The top and shawl featured intricate detailing, created using a contrasting gold thread.

This is the fourth Maheen Khan design that Kate’s worn during the tour so far.  In addition to the green and gold outfit pictured above, Kate’s sported the following items by the designer: a vibrant blue shalwar kameez, a white pair of trousers and a white dupatta shawl.

As with her previous outfits, we believe the Duchess sourced the shalwar kameez from O’Nitaa, a boutique selling traditional Asian clothing in Chelsea, London.  The company confirmed they dressed both William and Kate earlier in the tour. They have a picture of a very similar outfit on their website:

The shalwar kameez is described on the website as follows:  Turquoise French chiffon with silk gold thread Swarth embroidery.  

For anybody hoping to get their hands on this outfit, you’re out of luck. Maheen Khan told me on Twitter that she won’t be replicating any of Kate’s looks from the tour.

Onto Kate’s accessories now. For the second half of the day, the Duchess wore her Catherine Zoraida Fern Hoop earrings (she’d worn a pair by Asprey London to the earlier engagements).

The earrings feature a fern design that covers an 18ct gold plater silver hoop.  They cost £150 GBP (around $193 USD).

Kate continued to wear her new low-heeled J.Crew pumps.  She debuted them earlier in the day, during the visit to the SOS Children’s Village. 

The pumps feature a D’Orsay style cutout on the side, an elegant pointed toe and a slim heel.  The shoes currently retail for £246 GBP / $218 USD.  

My thoughts and your verdict:

I thought the turquoise and gold colours looked spectacular against the red and cream tones of the mosque. I loved the vibrant colour and elegant embroidery. And who’d have thought we’d get a tiara moment on this tour? (It was plastic but I’ll take it!)

As always, let me know your thoughts in the comments section below.

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